‘Tough’ - Nigel Pearson makes penalty claim but accepts Swansea City deserved win

Nigel Pearson believed that Bristol City should have had a penalty in their 2-0 defeat to Swansea City at the Swansea.com Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Goals from Liam Cullen and Olivier Ntcham in either half inflicted a third defeat in five matches, making for just one win in the same period. Cullen opened the scoring in the first-half as Ntcham played him in for a left-footed shot, and then the Frenchman went from provider to goal scorer with a low finish just outside the box.

At 1-0 however, the referee Jeremy Simpson waved away a penalty appeal, despite solid claims from the players and the away end. Andi Weimann tried to lift the ball over Ben Cabango, but the Wales centre-half blocked it, with the Austrian believing that it had struck his arm.

Pearson was able to watch it back and was adamant that they should have been presented an opportunity from 12-yards. He provided a further insight, documenting what he saw from the touchline.

When asked if he thought City should have been awarded a penalty, he said: “Oh yes. His arm is in the air and the ball hits him. The assistant is looking straight at it, the referee is doing what he does and the fourth official is bearing his head in his hands and their bench are laughing as well.”

As a result of their latest defeat, Bristol City remain 14th and are 12 points off of the play-offs, and aren’t in any danger of being relegated with 12 points between them and Huddersfield. They are five points off of the top-half of the table and will now have a chance to regroup and get key players back after dealing with several injuries to key personnel.

He said: “We lost 2-0 and we didn't get it, I think I've spoken enough this season about our friends who patrol the pitch in a different colour.

“It's becoming a bit boring to be honest with you. We've had two wow, we should have had three since though, but never mind. I thought Swansea played well and they deserved to win.

“The first goal is a disappointing one because we could have put more pressure on the ball and we’ve probably just run out of steam at the wrong time.

“It’s been a tough week for us, two defeats on the road but there are still lots of positive just because of our reliance on some really young performers who have been outstanding today.”